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A basic, underpinning philosophy of the so-called New Age is the ideathat we create our own reality. We do so, we are told, with ourthoughts, our words, and our actions. Indeed, it is made very clear tous that every thought, word, and action is creative. And so, we mustguard against thinking wrongly, speaking wrongly, and acting wrongly.

Buddhists have a reverse take on all this. They speak frequently ofRight Thinking, Right Speaking, and Right Action -- meaning thought,word, and action that is in alignment with the highest integrity andthe grandest notion we have ever had about ourselves and life.

This is well and good, but it can create complications in the normalliving of everyday life if one becomes obsessive about it. Healthyspirituality is not about obsession. Obsession is a demonstration oflack of control, and healthy spirituality is exactly the opposite. Itis about being in control, and thus intentionally creating our ownpersonal reality.

It has been my observation that many members of the New ThoughtMovement do not thoroughly understand this. And so they sometimes getcaught up in their efforts to monitor themselves and to stop themselvesfrom thinking the "wrong" thoughts, saying the "wrong" things (orsaying things in the "wrong way"), and undertaking the "wrong" actions.Many of them become fearful around this. This fear does not even allowthem to express a thought of simple caution.

Statements such as, "be sure to lock the front door when you leave thehouse, honey", or, "better check that company's portfolio before youmake a big investment", or, "please don't walk to the bus stop if themeeting ends after 11 p.m.. Just call a taxi, or call me and I'll comeand get you" are met with gentle admonitions or even mild derision."Don't say that or you'll create it," is a common statement that I haveheard often through the years. This, of course, is another form offear. It is a fearful obsession that the universe will take usliterally in everything that we think and say, and that a simplestatement of common caution will somehow create the exact experiencethat we are being cautious about avoiding.

This is what happens when we confuse "fear" and "caution" in our minds.This is what I call Overthink. It is when we are so aware of the roleof the mind in the creation of our exterior reality that we "overthink" everything. We think about what we are thinking about at such alevel and to such a degree that we are almost unable to move forward inany thought process at all. We become, quite literally, paralyzed inour thinking, afraid that anything and everything we say will be turnedinto our reality. And so we "monitor" our thoughts to make sure that weare exercising Right Thinking.

Here's the good news about that. The Universe understands everyunderlying feeling that supports all the thoughts that run through ourminds. It is the deepest emotions that are powerful, not the randomones. It is the deepest feelings that create waves of energy whichultimately can manifest in our physical reality.

Fear comes in various quantities. Deep fear -- the kind that we canfeel in the pit of our stomach, the kind that leaves our chest cold,the kind that stops our heart -- generates huge amounts of energy. Onthe other hand, what I call "shallow" fear -- the little fears ofday-to-day life that really don't run very deep ("Oh, I'll never find aparking space") rarely have any important or lasting effect and,indeed, often prove unfounded.

The emotion of simple caution is understood at the deepest reaches ofour being as having nothing to do with our Innermost Intention. Thereis a built-in editing system in the Creation Process which eliminatesthe possibility of misconstruing what it is we really want, seek, anddesire to express and experience. To put it simply, the Lord God of OurBeing understands what it is we intend. Clearly, hoping to avoidsomething is not an effort to create it. Our Divine Self does not haveto be told this.

So stop worrying about every thought you think and every word you sayand everything you do. Look to see what is on the real agenda. Checkyour motivations for everything. What is it that you intend? What is itthat you are seeking to experience? Be clear about that at the level ofyour Quiet Awareness and you will have nothing to worry about. Moveforward in your life with confidence that the Big Self understands theless-than-perfect articulations of the Little Self.

Caution is not fear. It is simply the announcement of a clear choice toavoid outcomes which do not please us, and which do not represent whowe are and who we choose to be.

Similarly, simple observations are not announcements of our innermostintentions. "The train is coming," is not a statement that we wish tobe hit by the train. "Uh-oh, it looks like it's going to rain" is not astatement that we want it to rain. And the Universe understands this.Again, we don't have to explain things to Divine Awareness.

I was at a picnic some years ago when someone in the group I was withsaid, "Uh-oh, it looks like it's going to rain." Someone else in thegroup immediately chastised the first person. "Don't say that! You'llcreate it!" (Here we go again with that one.) The first person wassuitably chagrined. She should've known better. She'd committed theCrime Of The Century in the some New Age circles.

I don't believe in any of this stuff. Yes, your words are creative.Yes, your thoughts produce your reality. Yes, the things that you doand the actions that you undertake create very real outcomes in theworld of your experience. Yes, all of these things are true. But forheaven's sake, you don't have to worry about every stray thought, everychance or commonplace utterance, every absent-minded action. It isabout where you are "coming from," not how well you articulate that.

We have enough to be afraid of without running scared about everythingwe are thinking, saying, and doing. Actually, we have nothing to beafraid of, but we imagine that we do, which is sufficient to producethe experience. Communion with Godtells us that we need nothing at all. God says that need is anillusion. If this is true (and it is), then there is never any reasonfor us to be afraid of anything at all.

We do not even need our own physical life. We do not need to "survive."In fact, our survival is guaranteed. We will live forever. We cannotdie because dying is impossible. Given who and what we are, death isnot and can never be part of our experience. The question is not, Will,we continue living? Question is, What form will we take?

Now, if we are deeply attached to the form in which we currentlyappear, then we will be afraid of changing forms. This will seem like aloss to us. And the potential for such loss can create in us thepeculiar emotional experience that we call "fear."

All suffering is the result of attachment. All attachment is the resultof a mistaken notion of who and what we are and of why we are here uponthe earth.

It is not easy to stay away from attachments. It is not easy to elevateour thinking to the level at which we understand all of this all of thetime. It is not easy -- unless it is. This is what mastery is all about.

.....By Neale Donald Walsch

_________________Glenda :-) May the realisation of all paths leading to the same truth become fruitful in this age of religious intolerance.